Full-rotary type hook using mass of wound thread



United States Patent Inventor Kazukiyo Shiragami Toyonaka, Japan Appl. No. 734,411 Filed June 4, 1968 Patented Sept. 29, 1970 Assignee l-lirose Seisakusho Ltd. a corporation of Japan Priority Sept. 19, 1967 Japan 42/80,!)81

FULL-ROTARY TYPE HOOK USING MASS OF WOUND THREAD 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI 112/229 1nt. Cl D05b 57/14 Field of Search l 1 2/231,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,981,834 11/1934 Fleckenstein 112/231 2,728,315 12/1955 Ayres 112/231 2,851,977 9/1958 Spaine... 112/231 2,949,874 8/1960 Kuhar 112/231 3,398,710 8/1968 Eckhardt 112/231 .Primary Examiner-Arthur R. Guest AnorneysHarry C. Bierman, Jordan B. Bierman and Bierman and Bierman ABSTRACT: A container and dispenser for filamentary material such as thread, consisting of a generally cylindrical cup-shaped outer holder and a correspondingly shaped inverted cup-shaped inner casing therein, including the provision of filament in the form of a wound coreless body in said casing coupled with means for retaining the casing in the holder whereby it is possible to unwind the filament without movement of the body.

Patented Sept. 29, 1970 3,530,810

M Z? 3/ FIG 6 FIG 7 INVENTOR.

v y v ATTORNEYS FULL-ROTARY TYPE HOOK USING MASS OF WOUND THREAD In recent years there has been a trend towards the introduction and use of sewing machines which operate at ever increasing speeds. lmprovements in the mechanical arts as well as refinements of certain construction have permitted such speed increases and made them economical.

In the past, thread has been supplied to sewing machines from a reel or bobbin which feeds thread by rotation thereof until the supply is exhausted. With the increased speed, two factors have interfered with smooth operation in this area. In the first place, since the bobbins could carry a very small amount of thread the high-speed machine used up the entire supply at a comparatively rapid rate. It has thus become necessary to change bobbins more often than heretofore.

Secondly, the inertia built up by the rotating bobbin could not readily be absorbed so that a sudden stop of the machine produced a tendency towards over-running of the thread with consequent tangling, knotting, etc.

It is therefore among the objects of this invention to provide a supply means for filament-like material which is of simple and trouble-free construction.

It is also among the objects of this invention to provide a supply for filament-like material which avoids the difficulties attendant upon the building up of inertia in a rotating bobbin.

It is further among the objects of this invention to provide a supply for filament-like material which is capable of holding one-and-a-half to two times as much thread in substantially the same volume as the prior-art bobbins.

In carrying out this invention, there is provided an outer holder of generally cylindrical cup shape. A similarly shaped casing being of slightly smaller diameter than that of the holder is also provided. The casing fits into the holder with a friction fit. A wound body of thread or other filament is placed within the casing. This body is composed entirely of the thread to be supplied and has its loose end at the center. It is capable of unwinding from the center outwards without movement of the body as a whole. For best results, the loose thread extends through the wall of the casing and also through the wall of the holder. This is accomplished by openings in the two walls suitably located so that the thread can pass through. At the same time there is provided a means for tensioning the filament as it is drawn from the device. This tensioning means is most advantageously in the form of a spring affixed to the casing and bearing against the filament as it leaves the device.

Since the casing which holds the coreless body has no bottom, it is desirable to prevent the body from falling out prior to insertion into the outer holder. This is accomplished preferably by a latching device which serves a duel function.

Specifically, a cam opening is provided in the horizontal surface of the casing. A latch of generally hook shape is slidably mounted on this same surface. The hook end of the latch curves downwardly and inwardly and is adapted to pass through an opening in the wall of the casing to contact the body within. This is accomplished by the sliding movement of the latch. At the opposite extreme of the sliding movement, the latch is out of contact with the body within.

The latch is actuated by a lever pivoted adjacent the cam opening and extending on either side of the pivot. The shorter extension is adapted to contact the edge of the cam opening and the longer extension acts as a handle. When the handle or latch lever is raised, it pivots about the pivot point and the cam end thereof bears against the edge of the cam opening. This causes the latch to slide along the surface and the hook end to project into the interior of the casing and contact the body. When the lever is closed, the latch slides away from the body and contact is lost.

The engaging means on the hook end of the body projects radially outward of the wall of the casing even in the latched position. The holder is provided with a corresponding notch on the horizontal portion of its inner wall. The notch is complementary to and adapted to receive this portion of the engaging means when the lever is in the closed position. By this means the casing is locked against rotational movement relative to the holder and will always be positioned in the same way. The holes in the walls of the casing and holder will always be properly located relative to one another so long as the engaging means on the latch is located in the corresponding notch on the holder.

A preferred means of mounting the latch and its lever on the casins consists of a comparatively wide groove in the surface which is undercut on at least one side. The latch and lever are correspondingly shaped so that appropriate projections can be slid into the undercut portions while the latch and lever itself are located in the groove.

While any means of securing the holder and casing together could of course be used, it has been found particularly desirable to lock the two together by means of at least two radially inward projections on said holder which correspond with substantially L-shaped openings in the casing. The casing is inserted axially so that the projections engage the axial portions of the L-shaped openings and then rotated slightly so that the projections enter the remaining portions of the L-shaped openings. It has also been found desirable to radially cut away a portion of the holder which leads to the notch so as to avoid contact between the engaging means and the side of the holder.

In the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof and in which like reference numbers indicate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the assembled device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the outer holder alone;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the wound filament casing;

FIG. Sis a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the casing shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the coreless body of wound filament used in this invention.

There is provided an outer holder 1 which is generally cylindrical and cup-shaped. The holder has walls 2 comprising upper portion 3 and having a locking strip 4 for connection to an outer container. The latter is not part of the invention and has not been shown on the drawings.

There is also provided an inner casing 5 adapted to receive and hold coreless filament body 6. Casing 5 while shaped similarly to holder 1 is slightly smaller and is adapted to be placed therein in inverted position. As can be seen in the drawings, the device has no stem or core for supporting a bobbin case as is customarily found in prior-art devices.

There are provided openings in the walls of body holder I and inner casing 5 for passage therethrough of thread 32.

Similarly, tensioning means in the form of spring 29 is affixed to the wall of casing 5 by screws 30. It overlaps thread channel 31 so that it bears against thread 32 as it leaves the casing and the holder.

The latching means is best shown in FIG. 5. Latch 18 has end 25 adjacent engaging means 23. Latch 18 is slidably mounted on the upper surface of casing 5. Cam opening 22 is in the upper surface of casing 5 and pivot pin 24 connects latch 18 with lever 19. Lever 19 is provided at one end with cam 20.

Lever 19 is actuated by moving it to the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. This causes cam 20 to bear against cam opening 22 which in turn slides latch 18 to the left (as shown in FIG. 5) and permits engaging means 23 to pass through hole 27 and engage the body within.

This serves to retain the body until casing 5 is inserted into holder 1. Lever 19 is then returned to its closed position (in full lines in FIG. 5) and latch 18 moves to the right and engaging means 23 withdraws from contact with the coreless body. End 25 enters notch II in crescent-shaped segment 10 of holder 1. As can be seen, this locks casing 5 against any rotational movement and ensures that opening 7 in casing 5 will be in proper relationship to opening 8 in holder 1.

As can best be seen in FIG. 6, groove 16 is provided in the upper portion of easing 5. This groove has undercuts 17 into which lever 19 and latch 18 fit. The lever-latch assembly is complementary to the shape of the combined groove and undercuts so that the assembly is slid into position and is prevented from any motion other than the linear horizontal one heretofore described.

A further refinement of this device consists in the locking means for holding the casing within the holder. Radially-inward projections 9 are provided on the inner wall 2 of holder 1. These correspond to openings 14 in the wall of the casing. In use, casing 5 is axially inserted into holder 1 so that projections 9 engage the mouths of openings 14. Mouths 15 are preferably provided with diverging sides so that entry is made easier. When the axial insertion of easing 5 is complete, casing 5 is rotated counterclockwise so that projections 9 enter ends 36 of openings 14. This locks casing 5 against any axial motion relative to holder 1.

As a still further refinement holder I is provided with segment 10 which has radially cut-away portion 35 leading to notch II. This avoids contact with the sides of holder 1 by end 25 of latch 18.

It has been found desirable to have a portion of casing 5 projecting radially outwardly as at 26. The wall 13 of easing 5 then becomes preliminarily circular as can best be seen in FIG. 4. The coreless body itself having loose thread 32 and face 33 is inserted into the casing 5 so that periphery 28 contacts wall 13 and face 33 contacts the upper portion of the horizontal surface of easing 5 as seen in FIG. 6.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention is to be broadly construed and not to be limited except by the character of the claims appended hereto.

lclaim:

1. In a container and dispenser for filament consisting of a generally cylindrical cup-shaped outer holder and a correspondingly shaped inverted cup-shaped inner casing therein, the improvement which comprises said filament being in the form of a wound, coreless body in said casing, means for retaining said casing in said holder, whereby said filament unwinds without movement of said body, means for holding said body in said casing prior to insertion of said easing into said holder, said means for holding comprising a cam opening in said casing, a latch, a lever pivoted thereto at a pivot point and extending therebeyond, said latch being slidably mounted on said casing, engaging means on the end of said latch remote from said pivot point, the portion of said lever extending beyond said pivot point constituting a cam and capable of bearing on an edge of said cam opening when in an open position, a hole in said casing adjacent said engaging means whereby when said lever is opened said engaging means is urged through said hole and into contact with said body.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the end of said latch adjacent said engaging means projects radially outward of said wall of said casing, said holder having a notch on its inner wall complementary to and adapted to receive said end of said latch when said lever is in closed position.

3. A device according to claim 2 including a radially cutaway portion on said holder leading to said notch whereby said end of said latch is prevented from contacting said wall of said holder.

4. A device according to claim 1 including a groove adjacent said casing, said groove being undercut on at least one side, said latch and lever slidably mounted in said groove and undercut.

5. In a container and dispenser for filament consisting of a generally cylindrical cup-shaped outer holder and a correspondingly shaped inverted cup-shaped inner casing therein, the improvement which comprises said filament being in the form of a wound, coreless body in said casing, means for retaining said casing in said holder, whereby said filament unwinds without movement of said body, at least two radially inward projections on said holder, corresponding substantially L-shaped openings in said casing, whereby axial insertion of said casing in said holder followed by rotation of said casing relative to said holder locks said casing and said holder together. 

